Opening mechanism for mixing-machines.



No. 672,978. Patented Apr. 30. IBM.

I. H. FISHER.

OPENING MECHANISM FOR MIXING MACHINES. A' nmi'on fllod Ian. 18, 1901. '(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 672,978. Patented Apr. 30, 190i. I. H. .FISHER.

OPENING MECHANISM FOR NHXING MACHINES.

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No. 672,978. Patented Apr. 30, l90l.

I. H. FISHER.

OPENING MECHANISM FOR MIXING MACHINES.

(Application filed Jan. 18, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 She etsSheet 3.

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ISAAC I-I. FISHER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

OPENING MECHANISM FOR MIXING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 672,978, dated April 30, 1901.

Application filed January 18, 1901. Serial No. 43,805. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC H. FISHER, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Opening Mechanism for Mixing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improve ments in opening mechanism for mixing-machines, and is particularly adapted for use in combination with mixing-drums which are capable of being opened to discharge the contents after admixtureand has to do with a mixing-drum in combination with novel means for opening the drum for dumping or discharging its contents. Heretofore this operation has been accomplished as illustrated in United States Letters Patent granted to me- May 2, 1899, No. 624,200, and August 29, 1899, No. 631,782, in which the opening-arm is projected into and held in its active position by means of a spring and is held in retracted or inactive position bya catch. In the practical use of the patented arrangements it was found necessary to protect the spring by a boxing or housing to prevent it from becoming clogged by material dropping from the inverted arrested section of the drum during the discharge of the latter, and this boxing or housing afforded an undesirable lodgment for such material.

The present invention has for its object to simplify the drum-opening mechanism by providing a novel arrangement and operation of the opening-arm, reducing the number of elements of the mechanism, and reducing also to a minimum exposed parts liable to catch ma terial dropping from the drum during dumping or discharge by dispensing with the spring, its boxing or housing, and the withholdingcatch, and thus securing cleanliness and avoiding the possibility of clogging of any of the parts.

The invention has for its object also the provision of a drum-opening means which is sustained in both its inactive and active positions without the employment of auxiliary holding devices.

To the ends stated the invention consists in the combination,witha mixing-drum,of the novel drum-opening means hereinafter described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings.

That which I consider new will be set forth in the clauses of the claim appended to the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved drum-opening arm arranged in operative relation to a mixing-drum. Fig. 2 is a view of the same, partlyin elevation and partly in section. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view; Fig. 4, a detail looking at the nose of the arm; Fig. 5, a side view thereof; Fig. 6, a detail of the manner of mounting the supporting-shaft, and Fig. 7 a detail showing one of the runners of the machine connected to the supporting-shaft.

In the said drawings, by which I have illustrated a mixing-machine of the type disclosed in the aforesaid Letters Patent, the referencenumeral 1 designates the mixing-drum, composed of two parts or sections hinged together, as at 2, and mounted to rotate on or with the axle 3 of traveling wheels 4. The two parts or sections of the drum are adapted to be closed together, as when engaged in the operation of mixing the contents, and when closed are locked by means (in the example shown) of a keeper 5, secured to one part or section, and spring-pressed fingers 6, engaging the same. The drum parts or sections are adapted also to be separated to open the drum, as in dumping or discharging its .contents.

To provide, in combination with a mixingdrum, an improved means or device for causing the same to be opened for discharge is the purpose 'of my invention.

Connected to the shafts 7 of the machine is a suitable frame, consisting in the form shown of hangers 8 and cross-bars 9, which, with the saddle-shaft 10, supports the runners 11 of the machine, upon which one part or section of the drum rides out when the machine is discharging. The ends of the runners adjacent the mixing-drum are conveniently supported by the saddle-shaft 10 and connected thereto by means of a bolt 11 as shown in detail Fig. 7 of the drawings. The invention, however, is not concerned with the details of the frame or the manner of supporting the runners, and any suitable arrangement may be substituted therefor.

The saddle-shaft is conveniently arranged in brackets 9, depending from the shafts 7, and is held non-rotary therein by a set-screw 9"; but this detail also is not of the essence of the invention and may be departed from.

Hung and capable of rocking or oscillating upon the saddle-shaft is a saddle 12 in line with the locking devices of the drum, the preferable form of which is shown as consisting of a pair of separated plates 13, provided with shaft-openings fitting the saddle-shaft and held together by a bolt 14, upon which, between said plates, is arranged a spacingblock 15. A strip 16, which partly encircles the shaft, is secured to said shaft by a bolt 16 and serves to prevent movement of the saddle longitudinally of the shaft and also as a wear-plate against which the drum-opening arm 17 bears in its two positions of rest. This arm is shown arranged to bodily move or reciprocate toward and from the drum in a cross-bar 18, extending between the runners 11, to which the ends of said bar 18 are socured, and is provided at its forward end with a projecting finger 19, that serves when engaged by the section of the drum which rides out on the runners 11, as illustrated in dotted lines, Fig. 2, to withdraw the drum-opening arm from active position.

The drum-opening arm extends toward the mixing-drum, and its end adjacent said drum, which I will term the nose of the arm, is adapted to be projected into and withdrawn from the path of the drum-locking devices. The nose of the arm is connected to the saddle, lying between and pivotally connected to the plate members 13 of said saddle by a pivot-pin 20 at a point distant from the saddleshaft, whereby the nose of said arm in passing into and being withdrawn from the path of the locking devices partakes of a compound movementthat is, a movement toward or from the drum and a rising-and-falling movement. In the example shown in the drawings the rising-and-falling movement is in the arc of an imaginary circle, the ends of the are (taking the pivotal point 20 as the arbitrary index) being at opposite sides of the saddleshaft and the apex, so to speak, directly above the shaft. Thus it will be seen when the arm is in its inactive position or withdrawn from the path of the drum-locking devices it will remain in such position without the aid of a retaining device such as previously used. The weight of the arm and the arrangement whereby it is compelled to rise in passing to active position are sufficient to maintain it in such inactive position. So when the said nose is in active or working position it remains there without liability of being pushed away by the oncoming lock of the drum and without the necessity of the spring heretofore used to hold it to its work, because the force of impact of the lock tends to push the nose away in a resultant downward and outward direction, and this is successfully resisted by reason of the fact that the active nose of the arm can only move away from the drum by rising and passing the apex of the are re ferred to.

I prefer to provide the drum-opening arm with a seat 17, which fits over the strip 16 when the arm is in active position and affords a wide base of support to sustain the thrust or work when the arm is engaged in unlocking the drum-sections and opening the drum. When this seat is provided, a second one 17 is formed a suitable distance from the first to fit against the saddle-shaft or said wear-strip when the arm is in inactive position.

In operation when it is desired to unlock the drum and open it to discharge its contents the reciprocating drum-opening arm is projected toward the drum by the operator, its nose end moving toward the drum and rising in the arc of a circle in the example shown by reason of its connection with the saddle, mounting to and passing the apex, and coming to rest at one end of the arc bearing upon the saddle-shaft, as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The nose of the arm is now in the path of the drum'lock and during the rotation of said drum enters between and forces the spring-fingers from engagement with the keeper and unlocks and opens the drum. The engagement of the nose with the keeper arrests the rotation of the part or section of the drum to which it is connected, and thus opens the drum, and during the continued rotation of the other part or section the arrested one rides out on the runners and seasonably engages the finger projecting from the drum-opening arm, retracting or withdrawing said arm to inactive position out of the path of the drum-lock. The arm remains in either of its described positions without the assistance of a retaining device or holding-up spring, such as have been heretofore employed, and by this new arrangement not only the spring and catch, but the springboxing, with its undesirable liability of lodging the contents of the arrested and inverted drum-section, is avoided. After dumping or discharging the parts or sections of the drum are brought together in closed position again in any suitable manner, such as indicated in the aforesaid Letters Patent, and the keeper and spring-fingers automatically engage to lock the sections together.

I do not restrict myinvention to a mixing drum having the details of construction shown in the drawings and herein described, as it is essential only that there be a mixing-drum capable of being opened to discharge the contents, and in combination therewith the novel drum-opening means described and set forth in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination with a mixing-drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a bodily-reciprocatin g drum-opening arm arranged to be projected into the path of the drum, and means for compelling a compound movement of said arm, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a mixing-drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a bodily-reciprocating drum-openin g arm arranged to be projected into the path of the drum, and means for compelling movement thereof in an arc, substantially as described. v

3. The combination with a mixing-drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a bodily-reciprocating drum-opening arm arranged to be projected into the path of the drum and having its nose mounted to move in an are, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a mixing-drum.

constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a suitably-supported rocking or oscillating saddle, and a drum-opening arm connected thereto, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a mixingdrum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a saddle-shaft, a rocking or oscillating saddle mounted thereon, and a drum-opening arm connected to said saddle, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a mixing drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a saddle-shaft, plates mounted to rock or oscillate thereon, and a drum-opening arm connected to said plates at a point distant from the shaft, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a mixingdrum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a saddle-shaft, plates mounted to rock or oscillate thereon, a stop-strip secured to said shaft between the plates, and a drumopening arm connected to said plates at a point distant from the shaft, substantially as described:

8. The combination with a mixing-drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a saddle-shaft, a saddle mounted to rock or oscillate thereon, and a drum-opening arm one end of which is connected to said saddle at a distance from the shaft and the other end provided with a projecting finger, sub stantially as described.

9. The combination of a mixing-drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, a drum-opening arm, and a rocking saddle therefor substantially as described.

10. The combination of a mixing-drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, a drum-opening arm, and a rocking saddle at one end thereof, substantially as described.

11. The combination with a mixing-drum constructed to be opened to discharge the contents, of a saddle-shaft, a saddle mounted thereon, and a drum-opening arm connected to said saddle and provided with seats to fit against said shaft when the arm is in active and inactive positions, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ISAAC H. FISHER. 

